Ghosts of the Past
by deepdownderp
Summary: In March 2021, as terrorist attacks against Osea And Erusea leave both nations in a state of panic, and a new threat to the region's security emerges, Osea send in a covert team of OIA agents to defeat this new enemy. However, with time running out to prevent a devastating war, they will find out that this attack is part of a conspiracy that spans, and threatens, the entire world.
1. Disclaimer

**Because I didn't have space in the description, here's the disclaimer-y bit:**

**I don't own anything made by Bandai Namco or project ACES, nor do I pretend to, any OC characters should be fairly easy to notice as such, if you want to write something based on the lore I'm making, that's be cool, message me before you do though.**

**Rated M, includes violence, strong language, depictions of terrorism and war**

**Any constructive feedback is appreciated, I'm always looking to improve the stuff I write. Hopefully it makes some amount of sense. I guess if you want to ask me about it, you can on the Ace Combat Subreddit's discord server, though it's probably easier to just message me on .**

**Anyways, enjoy the story.**


	2. Chapter 1: Act of Terrorism

**March 30th, 2021**

**Oured, Osean** Federation

* * *

**9:12AM**

"...You're watching OBC news with a breaking story coming just in, our correspondent Paul Simon is at the scene right now. Paul, what's the situation here?"

"Well Cathy, reports are coming in of a huge explosion at the Erusean Embassy here in Bright Hill. We don't really know anything else, but if you look behind me, you can see smoke rising from the building. We're waiting on a statement from the OPD, and we'll update you when it comes in."

"Thanks Paul. Stay tuned for further updates on OBC."

**9:21AM**

"...Breaking News just coming in here at the KOUR Newsroom, reports of a second explosion, this time at the home of the Erusean ambassador to Osea. We don't have any information just yet, but reports of an explosion outside the Erusean Embassy earlier to day imply that this could be an act of terrorism. Unfortunately, we don't have anything else to go on... Hold on, I'm just being told that the chief of the Oured Police Department is making a statement, and we're going to go to that just now..."

**9:28AM**

"...Heading over to Apito International Airport, where there has been an explosion at the arrivals area, just outside the Metro entrance. We don't have any details other than that, but if it wasn't certain just a few minutes ago, I think it is now, that our nation is under attack. With more is our correspondent Samantha Taylor..."

* * *

**9:41AM**

**Vincent Harling Memorial National Security Campus, Osean Intelligence Agency Headquarters, Oured**

The screech of tires echoed through the underground car park as a black Dodge Charger screamed into the building, engine roaring. It sped to the end of the room, coming to a stop across two parking spaces. The engine turned off with a loud growl, and the door opened, out of which stepped OIA director Jacob Sullivan. He reached back in, retrieving a black leather briefcase and a Glock 48 handgun, before holstering said firearm, closing the door, and running to a nearby pair of elevators, forgetting even to lock his car's doors. Reaching the steel doors, he was greeted by a keycard scanner, through which he slid the black card hung around his neck. The elevator, already at his floor, instantly opened as he stepped in.

Inside, he stopped to catch his breath, leaning against the granite wall of the elevator. He turned to face a panel covered in buttons, pressing the one which would take him to the fifth floor, home to the facility's situation room, where he knew a gaggle of equally concerned secretaries, generals and advisers would be waiting for him. As the elevator trundled to its destination, Sullivan looked up to see the name of the building. Even at a time like this, he found humour in the decision to name the world's densest concentration of warmongers and nationalists after the only one of them who ever really aimed for peace. He had barely any time to dwell on that thought, however, as he was alerted to the vibration of his phone. He retrieved it from his pocket, the device notifying him of several unread messages from his colleague, Secretary of Homeland Security, Liam Patterson. Unlocking the phone, he opened the messages, scanning through them for any important information. The frequency of 'fuck', 'shit' and related words confirmed that this was, in fact, written by Patterson.

Before he had the chance to reply, the Elevator's doors flew open and he was blasted with an air of panic and confusion. Analysts, aides and the like, running back and forth, shouting, furiously typing, filling the air with an almost tangible tension. Sullivan hadn't seen this much activity since he was a lowly officer 11 years ago, as the agency reacted to a full-scale Yuktobanian invasion. Ignoring the panic, he half walked, half ran, through the forest of office cubicles, eventually reaching a large room, made almost entirely of one-way glass, with a gold plaque, with 'SITUATION ROOM' etched into it. As he again reached for his keycard to unlock the door, it was opened from the inside, and a security officer with an M4 carbine, who proceeded to effectively drag him in and to his seat at the huge oak table in the centre of the room.

Sitting down, he was greeted by a room full of glaring, disapproving faces. "Punctual as ever..." The commander of the Osean National Guard, Brigadier General Joshua Parker, muttered, in his usual sarcastic, dry tone.

"You know, another bomb has gone off while we've been waiting for you," FBI Director Janice Smith hissed. "Time isn't something we can spare right now."

"The Interstate was backed up," Sullivan rebutted. "Police blocked the whole thing off. And anyway, now that I'm here, let's stop squabbling and get to the point. What do we know?"

One of several Analysts whom the director didn't recognise retrieved a tablet from a briefcase under the table, before clearing his throat. Pressing a button on the tablet, its screen was transmitted to a large flat-screen TV mounted to the wall, which the occupants of the room all turned to face. The screen displayed a hastily-made timeline, showing several times within the last hour or so. "As it shows here..." He stuttered, clearly nervous, before picking up where he left off, more confident this time. "Just after nine this morning, a car bomb detonated outside the Erusean Embassy in Oured. We don't know anything about the explosive itself, but if you look at this..." He paused, tapping on the tablet several times, at which point an image of the Embassy appeared on the TV. The building's Regency-style facade was all but missing, obvious even through the thick smoke pouring out of the structure. There was an awkward silence as the group stared at the scene of destruction, unsure of what to say next.

Sullivan decided to break the silence with a question. "Do we have a casualty report? What about motives? Look, the timeline is nice and all, but it's like Jan said, we don't have time. We need to know what we're dealing with."

The analyst returned to his tablet, electing to briefly explain what he knew as briefly as possible. "Well... We know that at least five bombs have gone off nationwide, all targeting locations related to Erusean politics. Nobody has claimed responsibility yet, and there's no saying who the perpetrators are. Could be Erusean Partisans, Nationalists, Radical elements, Shilagean insurgents, hell, could be Belkans. Wouldn't be the first time."

Sullivan picked up a glass of water from the table and took a sip. "Well, it's not much, but it's still something. Let's get anything Erusean evacuated. Consulates, schools, the lot. Tell Farbanti to be on alert too, though I bet they are already. Oh, and tell your boss, David North, we need that AI of his running calculations ASAP."

Upon hearing that, the analyst silently acknowledged the order, and, along with Carter and Patterson, the latter of whom had been silently listening for the best part of the meeting, stood up and left, ready to order their respective agencies on the next move. The room now filled only by OIA and military personnel, Sullivan undid his red and grey striped tie, placing it on the table, before turning to the two security guards. "Gents," he addressed them, gesturing to the door. "If you wouldn't mind." The two soldiers nodded in unison, headed for the door and left, closing it behind them. The men still in the room could see them standing guard outside through the one-way glass.

The highest-ranked man in the room, Admiral Kevin Zhang, spoke up. "Well, now that the civvies are gone, let's get to work. We need to call the president." There was a low murmur for the next few minutes as they sat, waiting for President Susan Harris to respond via video. Impatiently waiting, they checked phones and watches, swore under their breaths, and acted in a generally agitated mood, watching the seconds tick by. With the pressure on them building, seconds turned to minutes, staring at a blue standby overlay, the one thing preventing them from responding to the attacks.

After the longest four minutes of their lives, the TV flickered to life, changing to display a conference room very similar to the one they found themselves in, this one situated aboard Mother Goose One, the Boeing 747-8i used by the Osean President. Harris herself was the first to speak, asking, "Hello? Is this thing on?"

"Yes ma'am," Sullivan replied, taking another sip of water.

"Good," the President responded. "I understand that this is an ongoing incident, but is there anything we actually know? Anything I can say on stage to stop 300 million people from panicking in the streets?"

"Tell them the truth," General Parker advised. "Of course, that's assuming we know anything near the truth by the time you land. How long until you reach Akerson Hill?

"45 minutes," one of the many aides in the plane's meeting room shouted out, just about being picked up by the mic.

"Could be worse," Sullivan sighed. He was just about to start talking again when the door opened.

A young woman poked her head through the door and addressed the men. "Sir, we have a group claiming responsibility for the bombings. The Erusean Unified State." Nearly everyone on both sides of the call let out a sigh of annoyance, all except for President Harris. "Bots across multiple social media sites are posting a video from them. You should watch it." She used the tablet which the analyst who was using it had left. Using it to bring up the video, the TV changed to show the President and the video side-by-side, also doing so on the linked TV aboard Mother Goose One.

The video opened with a man dressed in Early 2000s Erusean combat fatigues, wearing a balaclava, and with a large Erusean flag in the background, flanked by two similarly dressed men with AK pattern rifles. The man walked closer to the camera, before starting to speak. "This is a message for the President of the Osean Federation. For decades, foreign countries have seen fit to invade our land and oppress our people. We will put an end to this, but the way in which we do so is dependant on the decisions these governments make. Already, in Osea, we have attacked the false traitors who dare to call themselves the rulers of our homeland. With the corrupt provisional government purged from their soil, Osea must make a choice. Should their President announce to the world that they will put an end to their interference in Erusea within the next few hours, there will be no more action on their soil. However, if Osea should instead choose to continue to support the puppet government they have installed, we will have no choice but to teach them the hard way. So, people of Osea, unless you want to die for the actions of your greedy and imperialist politicians, you will make sure your government not only makes the right choice, but honours it. That is all." The video abruptly ended.

Both rooms were deadly silent. Even Harris, who was at first confident and steadfast, had sunken into her seat. The video put everything into place; the motive, the perpetrators, the timing. Everything was now clear, but that just made the revelation worse. "For fuck's sake!" Sullivan shouted, throwing his tie across the room in anger, before calming himself down.

"They played us, didn't they?" Harris sighed in reply.

"They sure as shit did," Sullivan sighed in return. "Just as we were pulling out of Erusea. Just as things were looking up for us! And now what? We either withdraw and the world thinks we negotiate with terrorists, or we stay and end up responsible for who knows how many deaths. The bastards got us. Fuck!"

Harris stared down for a few seconds, before mustering the will to respond with confidence. "Fuck it, we stay as planned. We don't have time to de-mobilise our peacekeeping forces, and I guess we'll just have to take their word that they won't attack again. Besides, they clearly planned this because we were leaving Erusea anyway, if I can remind the public of that, we can at least keep some of the scrutiny off us."

Admiral Zhang spoke up again. "Is a total withdrawal the best course of action? We should at least maintain some presence, we don't know that they'll keep their end of the deal.

Parker spoke in agreement. "He's right. What reason have they given us to trust them? They just killed dozens of people, and for all we know, they could have enough bombs to do it again!"

Sullivan, who had stayed quiet for the past minute, deep in thought, suddenly looked up. "I think I have a solution. An interim one, at least."

"And that would be?" Harris queried.

"We send in our very own quiet professionals. The best ones we have. They go in, find out who's really behind this, and we stop them sooner rather than later. We will not have another war on terror like in South Belka. If we can sort this out now, we can save both our own asses, and the entire continent of Usea from another war. All I need is the approvalof the Commander-in-Chief. So, if it's alright with you, Madam President..."

"Under any other circumstances I'd laugh at a proposal like that, but if they want to fight dirty, we will too. Get it done, Jacob."

He cracked a half-smile and stood up, before acknowledging, "Yes Ma'am." As he turned to leave the room, picking up his tie from the bonsai tree in the corner of the room which it had landed on, the President called out to him. "I know you always wanted to save the world. Here's your chance. Don't fuck up."

* * *

**So, that's the first chapter done. Hopefully I haven't bored everyone with politics in this chapter. I'll make up for it in Chapter 2. Any feedback is appreciated, as usual. Thanks for reading.**


	3. Chapter 2: Evacuation

**30th March 2021**

**Unknown location in West Erusea**

**14:45**

After ringing for a few seconds, the person on the other end of the phone picked up the call. "How are things going?" They asked in a raspy, coarse voice.

"Well enough," The masked man dressed in Erusean military fatigues replied. "The Oseans aren't redeploying. As expected."

"I'd say that's good news. Move to phase two of the plan."

"When?"

"Now."

Even with a balaclava covering his identity, his surprise at hearing that was visible. "Is that really a good idea? The faster we move, the more likely there is to be a failure in the plan. We have all of our operatives working on this, any one of them-"

"Do I need to repeat myself?" A cold, icy voice came through the phone, distorted by the poor signal on both ends.

"No. I understand. Moving to phase two."

* * *

**12:45 Local Time**

**Erusean Royal Palace, Farbanti, Erusea**

Princess Rosa Cossette D'Elise sat staring at her laptop, as she had been for the past 20 minutes. Switching between an endless flow of Emails and News reports, each speaking of a new bombing, a new security measure, a new reminder that her country and people were under siege. 'Information overload' barely described it. Opening the tab containing the Erusean Government's Secure Text Channel, four new messages revealed themselves, each from the user 'ADMIN - Ministry of Interior'. Written hastily in all caps, they read:

_12:43 CYBERSECURITY BRANCH INDICATES NEXT ATTACKS IN SAN SALVACION, REQUESTING EMERGENCY POWERS TO LIMIT INTERNET, SLOWING DOWN ENEMY'S ABILITY TO COMMUNICATE ESSENTIAL_

_12:43 ROYAL CONSENT NEEDED TO ACTIVATE STATE OF EMERGENCY, WAITING ON YOUR SIGNATURE MS D'ELISE_

_12:44 NEED CONFIRMATION ASAP, POSSIBLE COMPROMISE WITHIN INTELLIGENCE COMMAND, ALL GAPS IN SURVEILLANCE NET MUST BE SEALED_

_12:45 PLEASE RESPOND IF POSSIBLE, ROYAL PALACE WITHIN THREAT LEVEL RED ZONE, BE READY FOR EVACUATION TO BACKUP GHQ_

Instantly, the princess knew who she was receiving messages from. Pierre Dubois, the country's Army colonel-turned-politician, was probably the most powerful remnant of the hawkish conservative government, due in part to the deaths of the entire chain of command above him during the battle of Tyler Island during the Lighthouse War. Reading the request, which would, in essence, remove all internet privacy restrictions and give his forces full power to search for terrorist communications, along with whatever else would further his agenda. Any other day, it wasn't a proposal she would even consider, but there was nothing normal going on today. Reluctantly, she replied,.

_12:46 Go ahead, emergency powers can be activated. Don't think I won't find out if you try and abuse this power._

A few seconds later, a reply came.

_12:46 MANY THANKS, WILL DISCUSS LATER UPON ARRIVAL AT GHQ_

Noting the mention of evacuation, she got up, deciding to be ready to leave at a moment's notice. Heading across the cavernous bedroom to a large wardrobe, she retrieved a light grey coat. As a member of royalty, all of her possessions were of the more expensive brands, although that meant little to her. As long as it was comfortable and looked nice, it was good enough. Carrying it back to the desk where she had left the laptop, she placed it down and again turned around, this time to fetch her beloved dogs.

Waiting in their fluffy beds, red and blue respectively, sat two golden retrievers, Belle and Gaston. The princess envied them somewhat, watching them curled up, fast asleep, with no knowledge or care for the situation going on around them. She bent down and gently nudged them in an attempt to wake them up. "Come on, you two," she whispered. "We need to get up. C'mon. Let's go for a walk." That was enough to make the two wake up, and within seconds they were already stood up and trotting across the room to the door.

As she followed her companions back to where she left her belongings, the door suddenly flew open. Four men and two women, all wearing suits and armed with HK MP7 sub-machine guns, entered the room. Rosa recognised two of them as her personal bodyguards, Sophia Lewis and Michel Chevalier, while the others seemed to be from the palace's security team. Chevalier was the first to speak up. "Ma'am, we need to go," his voice was as cool and collected as ever, though the princess could hear the adrenaline in his voice. "Do you have everything you need? We can take the dogs for you if-"

"No," Rosa replied, putting on the coat and folding the laptop, picking it up and clutching it across her chest. "They'll be fine, I'll take them."

One of the other guards reached into his suit pocket, retrieving his phone. He pressed a button and frantically picked up a call, bringing the device to his ear. "Sir?" He spoke with urgency and concern. "Yes, principal is secure. En route to the lawn now. Have Angel 0-1 be waiting for us when we get there. ETA two minutes." He suddenly paused, presumably listening to the other caller talking. "I, uhh... Yes sir. Wait, what? The fuck do you mean, inbound? What is? An ATGM? Oh Shit!" He instantly dropped the phone, which cracked as it hit the polished marble floor. "Fuck, incoming! Get down!"

Rosa was just beginning to crouch down when there was a huge sound, a mixture of air roaring past her, the shattering of glass, and a high-pitched ringing noise. All she felt was her being flung backwards, as if gravity had suddenly changed direction, followed by nothing.

* * *

**12:47**

**Farbanti Business District**

Pinned behind a large concrete pillar by enemy gunfire, the young police officer sunk to the floor, clutching his Glock 17 pistol and breathing heavily. The roar of gunfire and sirens bounced off the towering glass skyscrapers to make a cacophonous onslaught of sound, which seemed to be louder even than his own thoughts. Remembering his training, he poked his head just beyond the bullet-riddled pillar, seeing the two masked gunmen in the centre of the large intersection distracted by other officers. He then looked for some better protection between him and the enemy, seeing a much bigger pillar at the corner of the building. Closer to danger, yet safer than his current position. Taking the opportunity, he sprinted to new cover.

He had just about made it when there was a loud crack which coincided with his leg going numb and him falling to the floor. He flailed the last few metres to the pillar, leaning against it while he regained his senses. Looking down at his leg, there was a small circular hole, out of which blood was pouring at an alarming rate. As he continued to hyperventilate, the gunfire reached a deafening crescendo, followed by what felt like silence to him. He again stuck his head around the corner, seeing a patrol car next to the totaled van the hostiles had been driving. Its windshield was peppered with bullet holes and sprayed with blood. One of the gunmen lay slumped against the van's wreckage, lifeless. He was attempting to locate the other assailant when a hail of bullets struck dangerously close to his head, until one of them ricocheted into his left arm. Still numb from the adrenaline, he didn't notice until he was unable to hold his gun with it.

The attacker who had fired on him slowly approached. His training noted that police responses would come in waves, roughly 90 seconds apart. He used the time to push up on the officer he had just wounded. "Come out!" He shouted, taunting his opponent. "Come out and die! See how much your Princess cares!" He continued closer to the large pillar. Not certain that his adversary was truly dead, he shouldered his AKM rifle and prepared to clear the area. He reached the side of the pillar, and waited briefly. Rifle drawn, he headed for the other side, ready to pull the trigger.

He turned the corner, only to get right hooked in the face by the officer's good arm. The wounded officer flung himself onto the hostile, wrestling him to the ground. They briefly wrestled each other on the pavement, with the occasional punch or kick being driven into the other fighter. The gunman managed to grab his foe's pistol and toss it aside. When the officer attempted to retrieve the firearm, his opponent managed to free himself, stumbling backwards until he hit the pillar, which he used as a support to get back on his feet. He managed to pick up his AK, which he aimed at the officer. Had he been looking and not still slightly dazed, he may have survived the confrontation. "You lose," he managed to speak, voice still shaky from the adrenaline pumping through his body. "Nothing personal-"

The officer, Glock in his one working hand, emptied the magazine. Ten rounds slammed into his foe, sending him falling into the pillar, gasping for air. When the officer realised that his body armour had stopped most of the rounds, he fired three times at the head. The gunman's balaclava had three holes torn in it, spraying blood everywhere. He dropped like a sack of potatoes, dead. The police officer, now laying on the side of the road, dropped his weapon and lay there in shock, just as an armada of police cars arrived from behind him.

* * *

**12:49**

**Erusean Royal Palace**

When Rosa regained consciousness, everything was fuzzy. It was oddly hazy, and felt disconnected somehow, like she wasn't in her own body. That all changed in just a few seconds, and reality seemed to fix itself, like a camera focusing. The first thing she noticed was a pain in her right arm. Looking down, she suddenly became aware of three things: The large autoinjector needle in her arm, the shard of glass in her other arm, and how much both of those things hurt. She instinctively yelped, before wincing and keeping her voice down, as her security officers had informed her to do many times.

Clearly, someone heard her, as the sound of footsteps echoed from the corridor outside, and the door, the other of which had been flung off its hinges, and in rushed a man wearing a black cashmere coat over a white shirt and bulletproof vest, with a grey shemagh pulled over his face. Entering, he shouldered a large black rifle, announcing his presence as he cleared the room. "EBI! Your Highness, you still there?"

"Yes," the princess croaked. The man immediately turned, and upon seeing her, rushed over. "I... What happened?"

The man slung the rifle over his shoulder and knelt down to Rosa's level, pulling the shemagh down off his face. He looked to be about 40, and had somewhat dark skin that made it hard to tell if it was a tan or from his ethnicity. "To put a long story short, you got a missile shot at you, outside's a bit of a fuckup, you're being evacuated, we need to move. I'll explain as we go."

"Wait... wait, Belle and Gaston... W-where are they?" She croaked.

"Who?" the man asked.

"My dogs... Where are they?"

"Oh, the dogs?" He started. "My team already- They're safe. Forget I said anything."

"Why?" Rosa pressed him for an answer. "What team? Who even are you? Where's Michel? He's my bodyguard, why isn't he here?"

The man replied, more hostile this time. "Look, I said I will explain once we're out of this mess. So let's go," he again knelt down to the wall he had left her leaning against. "OK, now listen. I'm going to pull you up, and I need you to try your best to stand up. Just hold onto me for balance. Got it?" The princess nodded and reached her arm out. The man grabbed hold and yanked her up to her feet. She briefly stumbled and staggered, before regaining her balance.

Without talking, the two left the room and began heading down the hallway, with the man again drawing his rifle, a Remington RSASS Marksman Rifle, not a standard Erusean weapon, although Rosa had no reason to know this. He slowly advanced along the hallway, aiming down a red dot sight mounted on a more powerful Trijicon scope. Glass from the shattered windows shimmered beneath them. Rosa then asked, "I just realised, I didn't even ask what your name is."

His gaze not breaking from the end of the large corridor, he replied, "I'm afraid I can't disclose that, ma'am."

"Really? I just wanted to thank you... For helping me."

The man chuckled. "I don't need to be rewarded for doing my job. If you really want to know, the most I can tell you is my first name's Connor."

"Connor," Rosa replied. "That's a nice name. Good to meet you."

"You can say that again," Connor laughed. "Anyways, I did promise to explain what's happening. I'm sure you're aware of what's happened in Osea this morning."

"Yes, I am," she replied, starting to feel much more alert.

"Yeah, well EBI command is convinced it's the beginning of a much bigger attack. The fact someone fired a missile at you should be enough proof. Regardless, are you aware of the Megalith facility?"

The word conjured images of the old fascist government in her head, as it did in the minds of most Eruseans. "Um, yes."

"Well, someone decided that building a new command centre for the country would cost too much, and the Twinkle Islands were after more cash, so it was a mutual agreement, really. That's where we're heading."

"What?" Rosa asked, surprised. "I haven't been informed of that!"

"Well, that's Mr Dubois for you. From what I've gathered, he's making certain moves within Parliament, moves which he thinks you would stand in the way of."

The princess wasn't exactly surprised to learn that, but still felt betrayed nonetheless. Every day, she worked for the people's own benefit, and yet some of her closest colleagues felt the need to hide things from her, all for their own selfish gains. "No," she exclaimed in defiance. "I won't let him. We'll have to talk about this."

"Please do," Connor replied, a hint of sarcasm in his voice. "All I've ever wanted is to see him get cockblocked, if you'll excuse my language."

Just then, they reached the end of the corridor, which opened out into a large room, at the centre of which was a grand staircase, a huge chandelier hung above it. He raised his fist to signal to stop, then remembered that the princess wouldn't know military hand signals, and instead stopped and lightly pushed her shoulder backwards. Moving into the room, the muzzle of the rifle snapped between the other connecting hallways, doors, pillars, anything that could conceal a threat. "Stay behind me, stay quiet," Connor whispered. "Good?" Rosa nodded in reply.

Hugging the left side of the staircase, the two advanced downstairs. Just as they reached the second floor, a series of gunshots rang out from the floor below. Rosa flinched with each shot, every bullet reminding her of her experiences on Tyler Island nearly two years ago. Connor turned around and looked her in the eyes, as if to silently ask if she was ok. The princess got the message and nodded. They were just about to descend the next staircase, directly under the last one, although much bigger and more open, when there was a loud commotion down a connecting hallway. The figures of two masked assailants appeared from a room connecting to the corridor, armed with rifles. "There she is!" One of them barked.

Connor instinctively jumped into Rosa, pushing them both to the ground. He fired three shots, his rifle thundering in the confined space. All three shots hit their target, causing the first attacker to drop to the floor, his gun clattering on the polished floor. The second masked attacker was midway through shouldering his rifle when two shots hit him in the neck. He fell into the wall, clutching the wound in his throat, before another round sent him to the ground, as his teammate had just seconds before. "Clear!" Connor announced, to nobody in particular.

Deciding this was no time to stop for a chat, he grabbed the princess, who had begun hyperventilating on the floor, and effectively dragged her down the flight of stairs, using the rifle's sling to aim it one-handed. He briefly let go of the rifle to turn his radio on. "Fox 1-Actual, shots fired on West wing, second floor, descending to exit onto the lawn, principal is in tow-" He was cut off by another voice crackling through the radio's speaker.

"Fox 1-1, please confirm last, shots fired inside the palace?"

"Affirm TOC, The palace is compromised, repeat, the palace is compromised. Requesting more backup, EBI SWAT and a GIGN unit ASAP."

"TOC reads. Angel flight is one mike out, standby for EVAC. Is the princess hurt, over?"

"Affirmative, light shrapnel injuries, possibly a concussion. Have a medic on standby- Fuck!" A bullet flew past his face. He fired twice in a state of mild panic, seeing another gunman running towards him, gun aimed squarely at him. The two rounds missed, but came close enough to the attacker's face to distract him for just long enough to return his left hand to the rifle's vertical grip. Now able to aim accurately, he fired two shots into their head, killing them instantly. He then grabbed Rosa once more, this time letting the rifle hang freely from its sling, and pulling an FN FNX-45 pistol from a holster on his leg, aiming through a mounted RMR red dot sight.

As they descended the staircase, an opulent entrance hall revealed itself, with a huge door opening out onto a once-pristine lawn, now filling up with ambulances and police cars. He jogged through the hallway, safety just a few metres away, but still closely watching all possible routes of entry for any signs of hostiles. As they approached the exit, a team of soldiers entered, clearing the hallways. Seconds later, a mix of Royal Guards Tactical support officers, EBI agents and Gendarmes also flooded in. "EBI! hold fire!" Connor announced his presence, at which point several of the officers broke off to follow and protect both them and their monarch. As they finally exited the building, they were blasted by the ground-shaking rumble of helicopter blades, and a buzzing atmosphere of panic.

They watched as their escape route, a dark grey Mi-24G Superhind with two bright orange stripes on its tail, between which the Erusean rose emblem was emblazoned, touched down gently on the lawn. The doors flung open, and a group of royal guards exited, herding the princess into the armoured shell. Speaking to Connor, one of the guardsmen spoke. "Sir," before saluting. Connor nodded and returned the salute, before jumping up into the cabin, as the crowd behind him lifted Rosa up into the vehicle. She sat in the seat next to him, clearly in shock. Just then, the doors closed automatically, and the body of the aircraft shuddered as it lifted off the ground, leaving the scene of carnage behind.

* * *

**That's chapter 2, I did say there would be some action this time. Hope I didn't dissapoint.**


	4. Chapter 3: The People Who Did This

**10:12**

**Interstate 34, En Route to South Bay AFB, near Oured**

Lights and sirens blaring, the convoy of black Cadillac Escalades sprinted down the outer lane of the highway, bypassing the building traffic trying to leave the capital. The SUVs contained a mixture of advisers, OIA command staff, and in the front and rear vehicles, teams of Secret Service Counter Assault Officers. Sullivan sat, seat reclined, tapping on the armrest impatiently. He much preferred driving himself. Whenever this configuration was used for security reasons, he always felt like a corpse in a funeral procession. Considering the current situation, that was closer to a reality than he was comfortable with.

His musings were cut off by his phone vibrating in his pocket. Not even looking at the screen to see who it was, he answered and put the phone to his ear. "Who is this?" he asked.

"Command, this is Watchtower-" A female voice spoke up, but was cut off by Sullivan.

"For fuck's sake, just speak like normal people do!" he shouted, annoyed.

"It's me, Sharon," the caller responded, identifying themselves as Sharon Bishop, the OIA's Station Chief in Farbanti. "Shit's going really bad out here. Royal Palace just got attacked, Dubois is dragging everyone to Megalith to explain his thinly-veiled power grab, D'Elise too. Get your jet to the Twinkle Islands, I'll have a helo take you the rest of the way-"

"Wait wait wait wait," Sullivan interrupted. "Dubois? Remind me, is he the one who looks like a rat?"

"Yeah," The reply came over the phone. "The viruses we put in their network back in the war grabbed the draft for his new bill. This reads like a parody of the real thing," She joked, causing Sullivan to quietly chuckle.

"We should've seen this coming," Sullivan sighed. "Remind me why we kept him on for the new government?"

"Nobody wanted to take a job as objectively shit as his. No wonder he wants to become President," She laughed, causing Sullivan to crack a smile too.

"Alright," He started, glancing at his watch. "Call me back if you need. Time to negotiate with these assholes," He was about to hang up the call when he remembered one more thing. "Oh, I forgot to mention," Sullivan began to ask. "Did you call up Specialist Applications? I need a team of their guys. I'll have someone send the details. Alright, bye." He hung up and returned the phone to his pocket, before sighing and sinking back into his seat once again.

**10:27**

**South Bay AFB, near Oured**

The convoy sped through the large metal gate at the base's entrance, which slid shut behind them. The vehicles split off into three groups, each heading to one of three identical white Bombardier Global 6000 business jets. Sullivan's car gently came to a stop, at which point he unbuckled his seatbelt and opened the door, stepping out into the fresh Spring air. He began heading to the open door of the jet until he noticed another vehicle pull up to the right of his. Turning to see a blue Lexus RX 350, he instead headed in its direction. As he walked over, the driver side door swung open, and out stepped Chief Analyst David North.

"Sorry I'm late, sir," He apologised, slightly out of breath. "Interstate's crawling today. Cops shut all the bridges."

"Don't worry about it," Sullivan replied. "You're here now. C'mon, let's go. The two headed for the plane, the gaggle of officials trailing behind them.

The first ones on the plane, both men rushed for a forward-facing window seat, of which there were thankfully multiple to choose from. As Sullivan sat down, the plane's engines quietly rumbled to life. Picking up a TV remote from the ornate table in front of him, he turned the TV on. Unsurprisingly, the screen displayed an OBC breaking news report. It showed the Royal palace in Farbanti, with a large scorch mark on its facade, where the missile had hit. The intricately cut palace lawn had been flooded by emergency vehicles. The screen cut quickly through various scenes, showing phone videos of Erusean fighters taking off, grainy footage of explosions, and images of ambulances and police cars rushing towards distant gunshots. Sullivan felt unsettled, as he always did during attacks like these, despite the dozens he had had seen in his career.

He leaned back in his seat, and tried to get some sleep, although he didn't anticipate he would.

* * *

**15:30**

**International Space Elevator Tunnel Entrance, Selatapura**

"All ISEV Security Units, a large security breach has been confirmed at the tunnel access point. At least one improvised armoured vehicles, multiple armed suspects. Civilian casualties confirmed. Respond Code 3." The voice of the dispatcher remained calm, even at a time like this. From inside the explosion-proof hull of their Terradyne Gurkha MRAP, the team of Security officers could barely hear the cacophonous echo of the truck's V8 engine screaming through the huge tunnel. On its left, several BMW police cars passed at probably twice their speed, blue and red lights strobing as they rocketed along the tunnel, nearly empty save for the occasional abandoned transport vehicle, whose driver would have already been evacuated by now.

Rays of light flooded in through the armoured windows of the truck as it left the tunnel, the grey tunnel ceiling replaced by a stunning dark blue, without a cloud in sight. By now, the echoing gunshots were becoming increasingly audible; a sound like New Years fireworks, but with a certain hostile report that indicated the danger posed by each bullet.

By now, the MRAP had left the gaping tunnel entrance, and was well on its way to the entrance. Speeding along the avenue, decorated with intricate patterns of trees and flowers, the road eventually began to open up into a toll gate, clogged by a pile-up of trucks and cars. The sound of gunfire was now distinct. The team leader, Sergeant Chen, was the first to speak up. "OK, here we are. Evacuate civilians, neutralise the threat. Let's go!" Turning right, so as to cover her team as they exited, she picked up her G36C carbine from its compartment between the front seats, and opened the door.

Immediately, the tropical air washed over her, followed soon after by a loud cracking noise, as bullets pelted the door next to him. Waiting for the hail of fire to stop, she resisted the urge to panic. Eventually the attack ceased, and she leapt out of the vehicle, sprinting towards a grey minibus with the ISEV logo on its side. She crouched as low as possible, making sure to put the engine block between here and the enemy, giving more than enough protection from most rounds. She briefly poked her head through the van's door, weapon aimed. The wall and windows were peppered with holes, and two bodies lay dead on the floor, also riddled with bullets. She grimaced and returned to cover.

A huge explosion knocked her off her feet. Stumbling on the tarmac briefly, she looked up to see the Gurkha on its side, fire and smoke pouring out of where a HEAT RPG warhead had blown it up from the inside. She swore, before turning on her radio. "Elephant 1, this is Team Leader! Do you copy, I repeat, do you copy? Please respond!"

Deciding she had to cover her teammates, who could be injured, or worse, she sprinted out of cover, running towards the main shootout. Spotting a masked man with a rifle, she aimed the G36 and fired three shots. The first two missed, but the second hit them in the chest. They doubled over, collapsing against a stopped car. Continuing to move, she saw another attacker, and aimed. Just as she fired, so did her opponent. They both stumbled, the round winding them momentarily, before Chen fired several more rounds, one of which hit the gunman in the leg, causing them to collapse to their knees. She fired once more, hitting them in the head, and they fell to the floor.

Still moving up, the density of vehicles increased, and Chen found herself navigating a maze of cars, trucks and buses. She passed a large coach, at which point the battle came into view. A delivery truck covered in armour plates and razor wire, pinned between two more Gurkhas, with a huge shootout occurring around it. Distracted by the scene, she failed to notice a gunman leap out of hiding and jump on her, struggling for her gun. There was a brief scuffle, before they both fell over, with Chen landing on top of the attacker. She smashed the gun into their face, causing them to lose grip of the carbine. She leapt to her feet and fired a single round through their head, spraying the ground with blood and viscera.

She stood up fully, breathing heavily. However, before she could collect herself, there was a huge flash. She last thing she saw was the truck disappear in a cloud of smoke, sending a wave of glass and other debris flying directly at her.

* * *

**13:38**

**Erusean Backup GHQ, Formerly Megalith ICBM Facility**

Having navigated the forest of construction cranes which towered over the burnt-out facility, the helicopter gently touched down on the rooftop helipad. The doors unfolded, and similar to how they had left Farbanti, a crowd of officials, guards and medics greeted them. The royal guards were the first to disembark, followed by Connor and the princess. They were quickly herded towards a large freight elevator. As they entered the facility, the helicopter powered up and took off behind them, swinging around a cluster of cranes before heading off.

Once they were standing on the elevator, it began to rattle and groan, before slowly descending. The facility's age and state of disrepair was visible; amber lights flashed by as the huge piece of machinery continued its journey into the huge structure, the lift shaft covered by exposed wires and cables. Several parts were covered in large scorch marks, scars retained from the vicious battle it had seen at the end of the Continental War. At this point, Connor noticed that Rosa had barely spoken for the entire journey up to this point. She was clearly still in a state of shock. Looking amongst the crowd of personnel, he spotted what looked to be a medic. Walking over to them, he nudged them on the shoulder, before gesturing back to the princess. The medic got the message and headed over.

Not long after, the lift came to an abrupt stop. On one side, the wall gave way to a huge blast door. A loud siren blared three times, and the door began to open with a loud hiss. It took several seconds for the two segments to trundle out of the way, granting access to the GHQ itself. Like a portal to another world, the opening of the door revealed an almost completely different complex. A small parking lot filled with several grey Toyota Land Cruiser SUVs stood before another set of doors, built into a white concrete facade with large windows, a far cry from the burnt sarcophagus it sat within. The group crossed the parking lot, at which point the automatic doors swung open.

Inside the GHQ, masked soldiers and officials in suits ran back and forth across a modern reception area, complete with polished granite floors, doors leading to offices and conference rooms, as well as related infrastructure. As they passed through the room, Connor's phone vibrated, and he stopped to read the new message.

The text, from a contact he had accurately labelled 'Asshole Boss', read:

_Well done getting the princess to safety. Oseans on the way, be ready to get tasked to them. good luck._

He briefly chuckled to himself. His superiors weren't usually this polite. Must be his lucky day. He sat down on one of several benches in the reception, unslinging his RSASS and placing it next to him. He sat down and tried to relax, waiting for his assistance to be needed once more. He knew it would be.

* * *

**19:49**

**Erusean GHQ Medical Facility**

There was a quiet knock at the door to the princess' hospital room. At first, it failed to wake her up, but eventually she came to. "Come in," she responded quietly, and, upon seemingly not being heard, she repeated herself. The door opened, and Connor entered, with two golden retrievers on a leash. The dogs immediately bolted towards their owner, whose face lit up upon seeing them. She leaned out of the bed to hug the two of them, before turning back to Connor. "Thank you," she smiled. "Thank you so much!"

Connor just smiled back. He hung his coat up on a coat-hanger on the room's door, before sitting down in a seat next to the bed, briefly patting one of the dogs on the head. "Don't worry about it," He replied. "How are you feeling?"

Rosa sighed. "Better, I suppose. What about you?"

"I've been better and worse," He responded. "Don't worry about me."

"How could I not? You saved my life."

"Protecting the Erusean crown is on my job description," He joked.

Rosa noticed that he looked like he was trying to say something. "Is there something else you're here to talk about?"

"There is, actually," He sighed. "About today."

"Oh?" she frowned slightly.

"The Osean Intelligence Agency is sending a team of people here to assist in the investigation. My boss says I'm going to join a task force with them. The reason is, they're after the people who did this."

Rosa was puzzled. "Well, why wouldn't they be-"

"I mean the people who really did this. Not just the ones who pulled the trigger. They want everyone involved in this taken down, and that's where you come in."

"I-I don't understand."

"Put it this way. The people I answer to think this runs deeper than just terrorists. This is bigger. Politicians, CEOs, some of the most powerful people in the world, and if their suspicions are right, at least one of those people will be in the conference you're going to be a part of. The fact is, I can shoot a gun and kill one of thousands of insurgents or gangsters or whatever. But you have the chance to stand up to the people at the top. If anyone in the world can stop this, you can. Today you survived an attempt to kill you. That makes you strong. But you go in that room, you're damn near invincible."

"And how do I know you're not just using me?" She replied. "Just because you're acting all kind? That's exactly how they talked to me when they convinced me to start a war."

"You'll just have to take my word, won't you?" Connor sighed. "Please. If not for me, do it for everyone who died today."

"Alright," The princess replied. "I suppose I don't have much of a choice.

Connor looked her in the eyes. "Thank you. C'mon. Let's go."

* * *

**Not entirely sure what to put here. Thanks for reading so far, I guess. Any feedback or whatever is appreciated.**


	5. Chapter 4: Operation Pile Driver

**20:00**

**Erusean Crisis Response Agency (ECRA) Conference Room**

There was an awkward silence in the room until Secretary of Defense Pierre Dubois spoke up. "Well then," He grumbled. "Let's get to work." The room, populated by ministers and officials, began opening laptops, checking phones and pulling documents out of folders. "OK," he started, taking a sip of water, before finishing. "Let's see what we've got here." He flipped through the folder, eventually finding what he was looking for. "Everyone open up page one, March 30th Terrorist Attacks, Preliminary report-"

He was cut off when the door opened, and in came an Osean Secret Service agent, closely followed by Sullivan and North. They headed for two of three empty seats along the vast oak table in the centre of the room, and sat down rather hurriedly. Sullivan cleared his throat. "Sorry we're late, let's continue." He apologised. Dubois just scowled at the two, remaining silent. Rosa immediately spoke up. "You weren't invited here."

Sullivan replied, "Yeah, well multiple bombs went off in my country, it's my job to sort that out, and last I checked, sorting it out is why we're all here."

"Very well," The princess responded, before asking to the rest of the room, "So, naturally we must take action from this point. What does the preliminary information show?"

Dubois span his chair around to face a wall covered in TV screens at the end of the table, with the rest of the room also facing away from Rosa to look at the screens, They briefly flickered, before showing a cluster of maps, statistics and photos of destroyed buildings and grainy footage of armed men. "Reports from within ECRA and the EBI's jurisdiction, that's Erusea, the ISEV and San Salvacion, indicate at least 692 fatalities and over 500 injuries." That statement seemingly sucked the air out of the room. There was a deadly silence until Dubois started again. "Of those injuries, we can assume that around 50 will die of their injuries, most likely because of hospitals having to use a triage system to save as many lives as possible. As it is, local emergency services barely have the necessary equipment and manpower to deal with this. National-level assets can deploy in 24 hours, although it may end up being pointless to do so, most of the injured will have been discharged or be dead by then." He said it in an almost nonchalant way, although the sombreness in his voice was clear.

The princess was almost slumped over the table, not making eye contact with anyone. "Are any more attacks likely?" She mumbled, barely being heard by the others.

Dubois looked as though he was about to talk, but North beat him to it. "Not that we know of. The OIA has been tracking communications between hundreds of members of the EUS, and the majority of them are either not mentioning any more attacks, or speaking in a manner to suggest that the attacks are over."

"However," One of the Eruseans interjected, "One attack, on Farbanti International Airport, utilised an MQ-99 UAV. It was quickly shot down by air defence systems, but there could be more aircraft out there, and if they're still running by AI, they could be waiting to strike."

"Then we need to close airspace!" Dubois ordered.

One of his aides replied, "But that would need a bill to be passed through parliament-"

"No it doesn't," The SecDef replied. "You know, we do plan for situations like this. Which is why we have a contingency bill for effecting National Security measures, and we _can_ skip a parliament vote, we just need the approval of the ruling monarch-"

There was a collective uproar from the politicians in the room, filling the air with shouting and quiet cursing and insults. Sullivan made his opinion the most clear. "Oh, fuck off," he sighed. "Nobody's surrendering power to you, we're not stupid." This failed to deter Dubois, who was already sliding a document, at least 20 pages long, along the table towards the princess, before tossing a pen over, nearly hitting her with it, which only caused the outrage to double. Rosa looked up to read the document, before Sullivan snatched it off her, raising it up in progress. "And here I was, thinking you were past using her to push your own agenda!"

Sullivan passed the document to North, who skimmed through the first page at an almost inhuman speed, before objecting himself. "This would give you control of the internet, lockdown protocols, disregarding parliament, you'd be a dictator!" Dubois scoffed, but was again cut off, this time by Rosa.

"That's enough!" She barked. "Let me read it." North obliged, handing over the file. She quickly read through it, the room waiting for her response with bated breath. She eventually looked up at the crowd of onlookers. Her thought process was nearly derailed by the sight of them. When she spoke to crowds of millions by TV or radio, there was enough of a disconnect between them that it didn't faze her much. But here she was, right in front of nearly two dozen men and women, all with equal or greater power and influence than her. She disregarded the thought and spoke. "I can't sign this."

The room was predictably plunged into petty squabbling once again, but this time only lasted until Rosa cut in once again. "All of you," She ordered. "Stop it! People have died! And you only care about yourselves! Just... Just act your age! For Once!" She stopped her outburst, hyperventilating. Dubois tried to look as innocent as possible, while Sullivan glared at him venomously, and North just shook his head.

Sullivan seized the opportunity to make a proposal of his own. "Well, if we're all erring on the side of common sense," He reached for his briefcase, opening it on the table and revealing a document of his own. "I think the better option would be to go with this option." There was a collective sigh among the Eruseans, though they kept quiet this time. "This document proposes a joint task force between Osea and Erusea, for the purpose of identifying and neutralising the Erusean Unified State. This will give OIA forces and analysts the jurisdiction to work alongside Erusea to find the people _really _behind this," He glared at Dubois once more; what he was suggesting was not lost on anyone in the room. "And by that, I mean everyone. Right to the top, if it comes to that." He slid the document to Rosa. "We can both benefit from this. As partners."

The princess read over the document in detail. The closer she got to finishing it, the more Dubois and his allies began to object, culminating in a shouting match between him and Sullivan.

"Don't sign that, your highness, I'm warning you-" He started, before being cut off by the OIA director.

"What are you gonna do about it? It's her decision!"

"You're really going to sign your power over to another country? Trust me-"

"The last time she trusted you, a fucking war started!"

"That was Labarthe's call, not mine! Stop acting like I'm some evil-"

"She's not dumb, she's not going to let you take over the country!"

"How can she trust you? For all we know, you funded these attacks!"

"That's rich, coming from the one using this as a pretext to his power grab!"

The sound of a pen dragging across paper instantly put a stop to the altercation, as if someone had muted the entire room. They turned to see the princess, slumped over the document, her signature on the dotted line, sobbing. "There," she managed to whisper. "There, I did it. Just... I did it. Now stop fighting. Please..." She trailed off, leaving the room completely silent.

"I'll be back in a minute," Sullivan announced. He left the room without saying another word. The others also decided to do the same, save for North, who decided to stay, taking a swig of water and sighing deeply. Eventually, it was just him and the princess, who he headed over to.

"You okay?" He gently nudged her shoulder. Rosa made a half-shrug in response. North tried again. "Look, you did the right thing. Believe me, those guys are just assholes, it happens when you deal with stuff like this for so long." He received no response. "Look, I'll get you something to eat, yeah?" He too headed for the door, leaving Rosa alone in the room, still crying.

Once North was outside, he immediately saw Sullivan looking at his phone in the corridor, and bolted over to him, shoving him in annoyance. "What the fuck was that?" He shouted, challenging him. His superior responded by pushing him back. "Hey, calm down!" He ordered. "Look, it didn't go great, but what matters is, she signed the-"

"Just barely!" North retorted. "Look what you did to her! We're supposed to work together with them, you just turned them all against us!"

"David, listen," Sullivan replied, trying to calm him down. "I don't know what you think you know about these people, but this is how they always are. It means nothing to them, they'll forget in a few minutes, if that." As if to prove his point, Dubois and his gaggle of aides returned, with the SecDef himself approaching the two.

"What do you want?" Sullivan spat.

"I want to apologise," Dubois responded, considerably more considerate and quiet than he had been just a few minutes prior. "I think I've figured out why she's being like this."

"And why would that be?"

"Sasani." Upon hearing the name, Sullivan sighed quietly, throwing his hands up in the air in mild frustration.

"Yeah. That makes sense."

"Who?" North questioned.

Dubois cut in to answer the question. "Connor Sasani is one of our 'associates', if you will. He's technically under the EBI, but he works for whoever he's told to. If you knew his past, you'd understand why he doesn't like certain parts of the Erusean government. People like myself. He's also the one who brought the Princess here, and he seems reluctant to give up close protection duties. Seeing as he hasn't killed her by now, chances are he's been telling her all about the _evil, dastardly conservative ministers_," he joked, putting on a voice to emphasise his point. "Sounds like she's taken the bait, and now, at least temporarily, she won't listen to a word I say. So you two are going to have to deal with this for me."

"And how do you suppose we do that?" Sullivan asked.

"I don't know," Dubois shot back. "You wrote the plan we're going with. God help us if you can't read a piece of paper." The two of them chuckled, the previous altercation seemingly having been forgotten. "Anyways, see if you can cheer her up. I'm gonna have a word with Sasani."

"Sounds good," Sullivan replied. "Good luck." Him and North returned to the conference room, silently opening the door.

They entered and sat down on either side of the princess. Sullivan again opened his briefcase, retrieving more papers and aying them out on the table, while North opened more files on his phone. "You said you were getting me something to eat," Rosa mumbled, barely looking up.

"Oh, yeah, sorry," North apologised, getting out of his seat. "You just deal with this for a second, OK?" Sullivan nodded in acknowledgement as North left the room once more.

Sullivan started talking. "OK, so if you look at this," He paused momentarily, which was enough to get the princess to look up and start listening. "In the last few hours, the OIA has tracked multiple EUS cells across Usea, and this outlines a plan to simultaneously raid several dozen locations in order to catch them by surprise. However, as I've said, I have my suspicions that there's more to this than meets the eye. Specifically, one location, an apartment building in Farbanti, has been detected making calls to an unknown person. Everything they say in those calls is encrypted, we can't crack it. Therefore, we need that phone number."

Rosa finally spoke up. "But if they have that many members, surely they'd see us coming and destroy the devices, right?"

Sullivan nodded. "Chances are, yes," He answered. "Which is why we need to lock down the entire city. Preferably tonight."

"But I- we can't do that without parliament's approval," She replied.

"According to page... 76 of the document you just signed, yes you can. You see, this is why emergency powers are so great. Sure, people might think you're trying to take over the world, but mainly it just gets the bureaucracy out of the way."

"I... This isn't right," Rosa retorted. "People deserve freedom, this just takes it away from them."

"I can understand why you're concerned," Sullivan replied in a more gentle voice. "It's only temporary. Besides, all of Osea's policy has been based on shifting control over to Erusea, and it's all worked because of you. It's not an exaggeration to say you helped save the world. You've done so much this far, you can easily pull this off." He half-smiled.

"You remind me of Labarthe," The princess replied with a small smile. "He was the only person who really tried to talk to me. Everyone else just assumes I'm like how I am on stage or radio. But he actually made the effort to be kind to me. To see me as a real person. But even he used me. And that's what you're doing right now."

The comment took Sullivan by surprise. He tried to formulate an answer for a few seconds, before finding one. "Y'know, back when I was just a lowly analyst, and this was back in like 2004, just as Harling was coming into office," He chuckled. "So anyways, Harling gets into office, and he has all these plans for peace, he comes in and says, 'OK, your new job is to protect peace, not Osea.' Naturally, that made all the higher-ups hate him, but it inspired me. I thought, 'yeah, I'm gonna save the world one day!.'" He smiled as he remembered, causing the princess to smile as well. "And, well, it never really happened. The war with Yuktobania started, then all the fear of another war, then Harling himself died. But this morning, I get into work and I'm immediately talking to the president, and as we're discussing what to do, she says to me, 'I know you always wanted to save the world, here's your chance.' And that's what I'm gonna do. That's what _we're _gonna do."

Rosa smiled. "You're quite the salesman," She joked, to which they both laughed. Just then, North entered the room holding a small paper bag, slightly surprised to see such a bright atmosphere in the room.

"You're looking better already," He remarked, before turning to Sullivan. "I'm starting to see why you're so good at winning people over, sir." Once again speaking to Rosa, he handed her the bag. "I got you a granola bar, some potato chips, bottle of water. The Eruseans were stockpiling the stuff, so I figure it can't be that bad."

"Thank you," Rosa replied with a smile.

"Anyways," Sullivan replied. "Seeing as we have a minute or two to iron this plan out,"

The princess finished the sentence for him. "Let's save the world."

* * *

**20:18**

**Megalith Southern Heliport**

The unmarked AW169 helicopter came in for a smooth landing, sitting on the helipad for some time before the rotors finally stopped. Once they did, four Osean soldiers disembarked and headed towards Sullivan, who was waiting for them. The one leading the group, a rugged, brown-haired man in his 40s, was the first to reach the director, and they both grinned upon seeing each other. "Jacob!" the Team Leader shouted out to him when they reached each other, and jokingly hugged him.

"If it isn't Sam Hawke! Long time no see!" Sullivan responded, letting go of his colleague. "I trust you've brought the best people you've got?"

"Yes sir," He proudly replied, turning to face the rest of his fireteam. "Say hello, everyone," He shouted back to them. They all waved back to Sullivan. Hawke began, "On the left, you've got Lucas Mendez," pointing to a Sapinish-looking man, slightly younger than Hawke and Sullivan. "In the middle, that's Robert Pike," The man in question, roughly the same age as Mendez and with scruffy blonde hair, threw up the peace sign and smiled slightly. "And on the right, Jessica Thorne." She was younger than the rest of the team, but had a fierce look of determination on her face, as if she was adamant on proving her abilities. Sullivan figured that Hawke choosing her specifically was proof enough that she had the skill to get the job done.

The group began heading into the facility once more, when Sullivan saw a familiar figure heading towards them. As they got close enough to talk to each other, Sullivan addressed him. "Sasani, right?" The man nodded in reply. "Didn't recognise you for a second, guess I'm used to seeing you with the..." He tried to recall the name of the agent's signature facewear.

"Shemagh," Connor answered for him.

"That's the one," Sullivan responded.

Connor went over to the Oseans and introduced himself. "Good evening. Connor Sasani, EBI." He reached out to shake their hands.

"Nice coat," Hawke remarked.

"Thanks," He replied. "EBI pays pretty well nowadays," He joked. "What about you?"

"I should've joined GRGM," Hawke laughed. "People say the OIA is like in the movies, not a glorified cleanup crew."

"Yeah, well the Bureau's always hiring. Hell, I'm not exactly Erusean, Am I?" He pointed at clearly non-Erusean skin tone to further his point, making the two of them laugh again."

Sullivan raised his voice to be heard by all of them. "Anyways, I'll show you where the quarters are. Don't get comfy, you deploy to Farbanti tomorrow morning."

"Really?" Hawke questioned. "Tell me, what's the op called? You got any better at naming them since we last met?"

Sullivan chuckled to himself. "Yeah, I think so."

"Go on, let's hear it."

"How's _Operation Pile Driver?_"

* * *

**Back to more politics. I'd say I'm done with setting the scene, I can finally get into the meat of the story. Thanks to everyone who's still reading.**


	6. Chapter 5: House Call

**April 1st 2021**

**07:25**

**Megalith Security Forces Briefing Room**

"Good morning," Sullivan started, opening a slideshow on a laptop next to the large TV in the room, before walking over to the screen. "While I'm sorry to wake you up so early, I think it goes without saying that time is of the essence.",

The slideshow frame changed from a rather generic title slide, plastered in insignia and logos, to a map of Usea with dozens of red points on it. "The dots on this map represent all communications from EUS cells under our supervision in the last week. It should be noted that this is by no means a complete map of the network, but we are confident that waiting any longer will do more harm than good. Today marks the first stage of Operation Pile Driver. Naturally, the public are out for blood, and that's exactly what we're gonna give them." There were a few cheers from Oseans and Eruseans alike, before Sullivan continued. "Simultaneous raids will occur across Erusea and Osea. Hopefully we can get San Salvacion and the FCU to join in on the fun. However, one such raid will have a much more important objective, hence why I've filled this room with the best operators on the continent." Once again, there was a small cheer from the crowd of soldiers and agents in the room.

Sullivan once again changed the slideshow, which now showed several photos of a three-storey apartment building in Farbanti. "This is where you're going, and also where we've traced calls from an EUS operative to an unknown number. We have reason to believe that this number belongs to the person commanding these attacks, and possibly the EUS as a whole. Problem is, everything is encrypted on the Farbanti end, so there's no way to record these calls or trace the location of our guy at the top. Therefore, we need that phone. Thankfully, Farbanti is currently under lockdown, and we will deploy jammers at the location to try and prevent them from seeing us coming and destroying the evidence. That's why we have to stop anyone in that building from going anywhere near an electronic device of any kind. Therefore, on top of standard Rules of Engagement, anyone who goes for a smart device; that's phones, tablets, laptops, fucking washing machines for all I care, they're a hostile and you should engage them as such."

"So you're telling us to engage unarmed occupants?" Thorne questioned, somewhat concerned. "There's no way what's legal."

"Pretty much, yes," Sullivan answered. "Erusea is currently operating under every emergency power they have, so the law is more of a recommendation than anything. If it goes bad, we'll sort it out afterwards. Just do what you do best and we shouldn't have any problem."

"Yes sir," She replied bluntly.

"Well," The director spoke up, finishing his briefing. "That's all you need to know as of now. I'm sure you can sort it out on the ground. Helos are taking you to Farbanti in at 0800 hours. Be ready by then. Dismissed." The group gradually began leaving their seats and heading to wherever they needed to be.

**07:29**

**Megalith Security Armoury**

"So you're sure you don't have it?" Hawke asked the armourer impatiently.

"I'm sorry, but I've already checked and it hasn't been shipped in."

"OK, thanks anyway," Hawke stepped away and exhaled deeply, feeling in need of either a cigarette or a drink, though years of active service had taught him how to resist such urges. He was about to leave when the door opened, and Connor entered, looking slightly tired and carrying a cup of coffee.

"You alright?" He asked, noting the look of frustration on Hawke's face.

"Yeah," The OIA agent replied. "My gun hasn't been shipped over is all, I'll probably have to go with one of the Eruseans' AKs or something."

"You can have this one," Connor offered, unslinging his RSASS and handing it to him.

"Nah, it's fine. Besides, what would you use?"

"This," Connor grinned like a puppy wanting to show off a new toy. He handed a small piece of paper to the armourer, and after a minute or so, they returned the paper, along with an FN FAL carbine, which he held up to show his colleague. It was probably two thirds the length it once was, with the barrel having been shortened to 13 inches, while the stock had been replaced with a Magpul CTR. The furniture on the rifle itself had been long since replaced, with a four-way rail on the handguard, with an angled grip, laser and flashlight attached, and a Leupold HAMR scope on top. "Pretty cool, huh?"

"Looks like it's seen a lot," Hawke remarked, "How old is it?"

Connor laughed. "Not sure. 15 years old or so,"

"Damn. And it hasn't broken yet?"

"FALs don't break," He bragged.

"Touche," Hawke responded, inspecting the RSASS, before looking back at Connor. "Anyways, thanks for the rifle. Looks pretty good."

"Don't worry about it," The Erusean replied, heading for the exit. "C'mon, we've got a flight to catch." The pair left the armoury, headed for the heliport.

* * *

**09:31**

**Erusean Air Defence Command HQ, Farbanti**

The group of four CH-47Es had barely touched down by the time their occupants had disembarked and headed for the convoy of MRAPs parked alongside the helipads, not far from a huge Aegis Ashore installation, behind which hid the recently-vacated GHQ building and the opulent government quarter that it comprised. The combination of the dry air and rotor blades kicked up a thin layer of dust, causing Connor to tie his Shemagh around his face. The vehicles were tan Lenco Bearcat G3s, with 'EBI' painted on in black lettering, with blue strobing lights covering the trucks' exteriors.

The operators mounted up, with Connor and the OIA agents going in the back of the lead Bearcat. Nobody spoke much during the ride, instead looking out of the small, armoured windows to pass the time. The city, usually buzzing with rush hour traffic, was almost deserted, save for police cars and the occasional civilian, presumably government employees and civil servants. It took just fifteen minutes to take the highway from the heart of the Port area to the suburbs, and a further ten to reach the target building. They stopped around three blocks from the apartments, to ensure they wouldn't be seen by the occupants.

**9:48**

**Reconstruction Boulevard, East Farbanti**

The operatives arranged into two groups to go through the plan one last time. Team A, a mixture of EBI SWAT officers and Royal Guardsmen would climb the exterior of the building and enter via the roof, clearing the top floor before descending to meet the rest of the assault force, then moving into the second floor. Hawke gathered his team to make final preparations. The OIA agents were using the equipment they had arrived with the prior day, dressed in civilian clothes with Multicam Plate Carriers and OpsCore FAST helmets. Connor had left his coat and tie behind, and swapped the light Kevlar vest for a much larger Plate Carrier himself, with an Erusean flag, and below it, what appeared to be a personal insignia of his. It consisted of a red and white striped background, with the silhouettes of two scimitars along the top and bottom, with a griffin in the centre of the patch. He didn't have a helmet, but made the wise choice to bring some hearing protection.

"OK," Hawke shouted, getting everyone's attention. "Here we go, last time. We're Callsign Striker 1, that includes Connor, except for Pike, who's covering us from the building across the road. We stack up at the West entrance, You EBI guys take the East. We breach the doors with C4 at pretty much the same time as every other raid in the country, and clear the first floor. Then, we move up one, regroup with the others, clear that floor. We look for devices, we secure them, we get it done quick and clean. Good?" There was a collection of nods, 'yes', and related acknowledgements from the group. Taking that as a positive answer, Hawke began heading down the road, at roughly the same time the other team did.

**9:55**

**Megalith Operations Command Centre**

The entire room was fixated on the wall of screens at the end of the dark room. The room itself was set up somewhat like a lecture hall in a university, though most of the space had been filled up with laptops, servers and SSDs, chained together by wires like a cobweb stretching across the corner of a room. While the various dispatchers and analysts sat glued to their screens, Sullivan reclined in his seat, an aura of confidence about him, which stood in contrast to the princess, who was nervously watching the camera feed of the building being beamed to them via helicopter. Showing up as a bright white through the camera's thermal imaging, the figures of a multitude of policemen, agents and soldiers amassed in their positions, ready at any second for the order to strike.

"Are you sure this is going to work?" She asked sheepishly, struggling to stay focused.

"Not with that attitude," Sullivan answered. "You can be the world's best soldier, athlete, whatever, but if you go into a fight expecting to lose, you will. They'll be fine, trust me."

"I suppose we'll just have to wait and see."

**9:59:12**

**Outside 2521 Reconstruction Boulevard**

Hawke watched as the EBI agent at the end of the stack opposite him moved to the front, fixing a breaching charge to the lock of the sizeable wooden doors, then returning to the stack. The comms chatter coming through his headset gradually died down, eventually becoming replaced by silence. Hawke gently pushed the fire selector from safe to semi-auto, readjusting his hold on the RSASS to account for its long barrel and somewhat ungainly handling.

"Ten seconds," A call came out over the comms. Hawke made some absolute final checks before explosively gaining access to an unknown fate.

"Five." Time seemingly began to slow down.

"Four. Three. Two." Hawke raised the rifle at a sharp angle towards the door.

"One." He inhaled deeply.

"Execute."

The silence was interrupted at exactly 1000 hours by a powerful blast which sent the door flying off its hinges. The moment the door landed on the floor, Hawke moved in, weapon drawn. Upon seeing nobody in the hallway, He moved to the first door on the left. As soon as his team had entered and stacked up on the next door, the Eruseans followed suit on the opposite side. Hawke pulled an M84 Flashbang grenade from his vest, and at the same time, both teams pushed their respective doors open, and threw a Flashbang into the room, announcing "Flash out!". As soon as it detonated, a blinding light briefly escaped the room, and Hawke entered.

"OIA!" He barked, scanning the room for hostiles. "Everyone down!" There was a loud scream, and a woman was seemingly pushed from a corner in the room, indicating there was another person taking cover in the space. By the time all four operators had entered the room, Hawke was moving up around the edge of the room, so as to get a view of the potential target. About halfway across the room, a man in a T-shirt and jeans jumped out of cover, wielding an AKS-74U carbine. He attempted to get a shot off at Thorne and Mendez, who were still in the doorway, but failed to notice Hawke, who fired two 7.62MM rounds through his skull, killing him instantly. As he turned to the woman, shouting orders, there was a loud crash as a large cupboard behind him opened from the inside, and another man, wearing a grey tracksuit, aimed an AKM rifle at him. He turned around to defend himself, but Connor beat him to it, letting off a burst of four rounds. He slumped back into the cupboard, gasping for air, until Thorne finished him off with a round from her FN SCAR L, moving up on Hawke's left, careful not to aim her gun at him. "Two X-Rays down, one unarmed in custody," Hawke announced over his headset.

As Hawke moved to cuff the woman, who was still shouting at him, the others began to exit the room, with Connor taking the lead as they left. He moved up on the next door, in sync with the EBI team who had cleared the room opposite. As Connor stacked up on the side of the door. His focus on the door in front of him was abruptly broken when the EBI Team Leader, who was moving past the door to reach the handle, was riddled by bullets fired from beyond the door, sending him stumbling backwards, keeling over after a few seconds. In one motion, Connor instinctively switched to full-auto and squeezed his FAL's trigger, hammering a dozen rounds through the door, before he moved back to check his remaining ammo. At the same time, the second fireteam split up, with two entering the room and the fourth member dragging his Team Leader to safety.

Connor moved to face the door, kicking it in the lock, sending it swinging open. Entering, he shouldered his rifle, seeing a masked woman in a shirt and camouflage cargo trousers. "EBI! Get down, now!" He ordered. The woman began shouting, somewhat incoherently, about traitors and victory, but still complied with Connor's orders. As he moved to cuff her, she darted for a Glock 17 handgun on a nearby table. Connor fired twice, striking her in the heart and neck, causing her to collapse just short of the table. He moved up, kicking her onto her front, so as to check for any weapons. Not finding any, he scanned the room, seeing no more signs of life. "Striker 1-5, one X-Ray down," He spoke into the radio on his vest.

As he moved across the room, there was again a burst of gunfire from the opposite room, followed by a loud, pained groan, seemingly from one of the EBI agents. As he moved to investigate, a loud crack rang out behind him and he fell to the floor, a mix between numbness and searing pain forming in his back. Realising he had been shot, he turned around as he fell and aimed the FAL in the direction of his attacker, seeing a masked gunman hiding under the bed at the end of the room. He pulled the trigger, firing off two shots, both of which missed by some distance, only to hear a light click in response. Realising his magazine was empty, he cursed under his breath, reaching for his sidearm. Fumbling due to the adrenaline coursing through him, he struggled to free it from its holster. All the while, he watched the man scramble from under the bed and stumble over to him.

Connor immediately realised what was going to happen. The fact he was still alive proved one thing; the man was a particular type of terrorist, the kind to make a big speech about their cause before executing their target. Using this to advantage, and not feeling in the mood to hear some righteous insurgent's reasoning, he raised the pistol and fired four shots. They all hit in the area surrounding his throat, causing him to drop the gun and clutch it. At that moment, Thorne, who had heard the commotion, entered the room with her SCAR drawn, and shot the terrorist in the head, dropping him. "Be advised TOC, X-Ray down on first floor, over." Seeing Connor on the floor nearby, she moved over to help him up. "You hit?" She asked with urgency.

Connor stuck his hand between his plate carrier and shirt, expecting to find blood. Looking at his hand, he was delighted to find that he hadn't been shot. "I'm good," He answered, wheezing slightly. "Plate caught it. Help me up." Thorne obliged and lent a hand, and when Connor grabbed it, she yanked him to his feet. As soon as he was up, he reloaded his FAL, before exiting the room and rejoining the team.

The staircase sat at the end of the corridor, and opened out at the top to form two paths, with each team taking the route on their assigned side. Connor and Thorne took point, with Hawke and Mendez following closely. As they reached the top of the stairs, they saw the rest of the assault force descending a staircase at the opposite end of the corridor. This floor contained just two apartments, but they were larger, and also the suspected location of the device which lay at the centre of the plan. The second group still had all its members, indicating that the third floor had been raided more easily.

The two squads joined up, stacking against the door on either side of the hallway, with a Royal Guardswoman doing the honours of breaching the door Connor was stacked at the edge of. She tossed a Flashbang into the room, shouting "Good breach, flash out!" She entered the room, only for a gunshot to send her falling back out of the apartment just as quickly. She shouldered her AK-12 Rifle, spraying lead back through the doorway and scampering out of the line of fire once the hostile who shot her was down. Using the pause in the enemy fire, Connor entered the room.

Immediately, he spotted a man in a blue hoodie and jeans, aiming an AK-74 directly at him. He dived for the first cover he saw, a large cardboard box. While it offered little to no protection from bullets, it distracted the man long enough for Connor to line up a shot, hitting him once squarely in the head. He fell back, his gun clattering on the laminated wooden floor. Connor stood up once more, as the rest of the team flooded into the apartment. The next person he saw was a woman, unarmed, shouting at him with her hands in the air. One of the Guardsmen moved up with a ballistic shield, careful not to flag his teammates with his sidearm. Hawke moved up behind him, barking orders, which she complied with.

Without warning, the kitchen area behind the woman erupted in shouting and commotion, and a man emerged, also with his hands raised. Just then, the altercation, which was seemingly occurring behind a small drywall partition that separated the kitchen from the lounge area, came to an abrupt end. The relative quiet was then replaced by a hail of bullets tearing through the wall, and by extension, several of the Erusean soldiers, as well as Mendez, who was hit in the vest.

Connor didn't fully process the next few seconds, merely firing blindly at everything and everyone in the room in an attempt not to die. This plan seemed to work, until the female suspect, who had leapt out of the way of all the chaos just in time, sprinted for the kitchen counter, appearing to be headed for a smartphone. That was enough for Connor to fire three shots, striking her in the chest. At the same time, Pike fired from the adjacent building, punching a fourth hole in her chest. She briefly staggered, running purely on adrenaline, before falling over. Connor noticed the ankle-height tripwire between the wall and the partition just seconds before the target fell on it.

The blast knocked him over, along with the rest of the team. The world became a blur; almost conscious, but like something was missing, replaced with a loud ringing sound, and a mixture of air, smoke and sawdust, and fragments of steel laying all over the room. He became aware of a figure, walking around aimlessly, like a zombie, before heading over to who he assumed was Hawke, a Makarov pistol in his left hand. Although he tried to raise the gun in time, Hawke saw the terrorist approach and beat him to it, unholstering a HK MK23 handgun and firing several times into his chest. Connor drew his FNX, also shooting the man in the chest. The longer he stumbled, the more bullets tore into him, until he dropped to the floor, dead.

Connor took the opportunity to get to his feet, sliding backwards across the floor until he reached the wall, which he used as a support while he stood up. He picked up his FAL from the floor, shouldering it and advancing on the pile of rubble which, until a few moments ago, had been a rather nice kitchen. Moving in, careful not to touch the remains of the tripwire, he found the end result of the firefight. There were five bodies, three of which had guns lying beside them. The mix of 5.45MM and 7.62MM rounds had made short work of the unarmoured targets, who had been ripped apart by the fire. The entire area was coated in a thin layer of dust and blood. "Fucking hell," He mumbled, before radioing in, "Five X-Rays down on second floor room 2, two friendlies down as well. Prep medical, TOC." Now that he was regaining his focus, he looked back to see several injured Eruseans, along with Mendez, squirming around, with a medic doing his best to treat them all.

Just when the whole building seemed to be clear, a loud commotion began in the other room. Connor moved to investigate, when several EBI agents filed out, guns drawn back into the room. Not long after, someone in the apartment shouted out, "IED! Move back!"

Connor and Hawke, upon hearing the warning, took the initiative, moving into the hallway and ordering the rest of the force about. "OK, where is it?" Hawke asked.

"In the bathroom, by the wall!" A voice shouted back. "Oh shit! It's timed, we've got 40 seconds!"

"Alright," Hawke shouted, getting everyone's attention. "Move into the other room, get the casualties behind cover! Get a shield in the doorway, we'll have to ride it out!" The group began moving into the apartment, taking shelter behind any adequate over available, while a Royal Guardsman covered the open doorway with his shield. Each second that ticked by seemed twice as long as the last. They braced themselves for the inevitable explosion.

**10:02:34**

**Megalith Operations Command Centre**

The longer Sullivan held the phone to his ear, the more anxious he became. "What do you mean, IED?" He questioned the person on the other end of the phone. "How long? 20 seconds? Fucking hell! Prep medical and EOD. Yeah. Out." He threw his phone onto the desk, before returning to his seat, watching the helicopter feed for any signs of an explosion.

"What's happened?" The princess inquired.

"The hostiles managed to trigger some sort of explosive. No idea how big. Best we can do is wait and see."

"Are they going to be alright? What about civilians?"

Sullivan sighed deeply. "If I knew I would tell you."

They both stared at the screen for a few seconds, before there was a huge flash that lit up the dark room for a split second. The explosion blew out the image, leaving it impossible to see anything for a few seconds. When the camera's exposure corrected itself, the feed showed a cloud of smoke billowing from the broken windows, with shrapnel pouring onto the street below. There was a deafening silence for a few seconds, before the command staff immediately began radioing in, trying to establish contact with the team.

**10:03:02**

**2521 Reconstruction Boulevard**

Connor's first thought was that the explosion could have been much worse. It seemed as though most of the force was channelled out into the room in which the bomb was placed. Gradually, the group left cover. While the rest of them tended to their wounded, he shouldered his rifle, moving into the room in order to clear it. Upon finding it devoid of life, he radioed it in. "Top floor is clear, TOC. Prep medical, I'm coming out. Stand by for Rose 3, they have injured so they can't move out, over."

"Copy, striker 1-5," The commander replied.

**11:36**

**EBI Temporary Field Office, 30th March Attacks Task Force HQ**

"Forensics teams have recovered the device we were after, and we have a phone number for our man. Once we've decrypted it, we'll have a location. Therefore, the mission was a success." Sullivan sounded more than pleased with the outcome, speaking via facetime to the uninjured members of the raid team.

"Success?" Thorne objected. "No chance. There's four injuries, two are critical, we probably killed civilians, no part of this went well!"

"I agree," Hawke spoke up, siding with his teammate. "We had next to no intel and we didn't handle it right."

"Well, the objective was completed," The director countered. "Isn't that what constitutes a success? Besides, if any of you know how to do it better next time, I'm all ears."

"I think I might know how," Connor spoke up, raising his hand.

"Go ahead," Sullivan replied, not expecting anyone to take him up on his offer.

"Today we went in thinking like cops. That isn't how we go about this. We're fighting an enemy that is well-armed, well-prepared, expecting us to respond to everything they do, and most importantly, they have no territory. The Erusean government has a million plans for fighting Free Erusea, or some coup attempt, or hell, even other countries. This threat is none of those. They fight dirty, because that's how you defeat a stronger opponent. If we stick to the rules, they'll exploit that to win. Which is why we need to approach this in the same way they are."

"And what are you suggesting by that?" Sullivan questioned.

"You tell me," Connor replied, somewhat sarcastically. "You commanded the Ghosts of Razgriz, didn't you? Clearly you know a thing or two about covert operations."

"So what are we planning, then?" Thorne inquired, unsure what the director and EBI agent were thinking.

"Sasani's right, following the rules will only get us killed." Sullivan answered. "If we're going to do this, we have to start getting... unconventional, shall we say?"

"If it means this won't happen again, then I'm OK with it," Thorne responded. "But don't think I'm going to let go of morality just because the RoE changed."

"We'll see. Dismissed." The call abruptly ended, and the group began to leave the room, leaving Thorne confused and rather annoyed at Sullivan's final remark.

As Connor tried to leave the building, Thorne cut him off and confronted him. "What the hell was that!?" She shouted at him, blocking his path. "What do you two know? And what is he talking about, 'we'll see'?"

"Listen," Connor ordered, his usually demeanour replaced with a sharp, icy tone that made him seem like a completely different person, which took Thorne by surprise. "This is your first time dealing with something like this. This isn't a war where the enemy is right in front of you. Something like this needs a different approach, and your Osean brain will understand none of it. But believe me, you will in due time." He pushed past her, leaving the room. Thorne stormed out, unsure how she felt or what she was being dragged into.

* * *

**08:50 Local Time**

**West Tauberg, Principality of Belka**

A black Audi S5 sedan slowly made its way up the dirt path, eventually reaching the crest of a small hill, where a white BMW 320i was parked at the side of the road, waiting for the other vehicle's arrival. As the Audi came to a stop, the BMW's door opened, and a man in a large grey coat stepped out, closing the door behind him. Eventually, the driver of the Audi, a man in a black suit, also exited the vehicle.

The two walked over to each other and shook hands. The man in the suit spoke first. "Doctor Schroeder," He addressed the man.

"And you are?" Schroeder asked in reply.

"Who I am isn't that important," he spoke in a rather cheerful voice. "What is important is why you want to talk to my boss. So why is it?"

"Grunder Industries is on the verge of bankruptcy, and the Osean congress is refusing to bail them out," Schroeder answered bluntly. "Without them, I can't work on the Zone of Endless program, and your boss loses his connections in the Osean military, so it's in both our interests to stop that from happening."

The man in the suit laughed. "Really? You want to bail out Grunder after the Raven scandal - which, might I add, was your mess - and you want them to do it for you? No chance."

"Well, I suppose the alternative is that the company's assets, including ZOE, get sold off, most likely to General Resource, who it seems you're having a bit of a disagreement with."

"And how does a lowly scientist like you know that?"

"Well, news as big as that doesn't take long to spread, does it?" Schroeder chided. "I have contacts."

"Well, you do make a point," The man admitted. "Let me call him and see when the two of you can have a chat, why don't I?" He reached into his pocket, grabbing his phone and briefly navigating to his contacts. He pressed the button to call his superior, and put the phone on speaker, so that Schroeder could hear it too.

"What is it?" A gruff voice asked.

"I'm here in the middle of nowhere with Dr. Schroeder," The man in the suit replied. "He says he wants to talk with you. Should I put him on the line?"

"No, that won't be necessary," The voice assured him. "Just tell me what he has to say."

"He thinks that the continued existence of Grunder Industries would be beneficial for all of us, and he'd like to arrange a meeting to discuss it."

"Hmmm," The voice trailed off, as if pondering on something. "I'll ask my secretary to make some space for it this week. Dr. Schroeder, if you're there, I'll have someone let you know when we can meet."

"Thank you, sir," Schroeder replied gratefully.

"Well, I think that's about it," The man in the suit sighed. "I'll call you tomorrow, yeah?"

"Sure," The voice agreed, before hanging up the call.

The man in the suit put the phone back in his pocket, before looking back up at Schroeder. "Anything else I can do for you?"

Without replying, Schroeder pulled a Walther P99 Handgun out of his coat and shot the man in the suit. The round hit him in the chest, winding him and sending him falling backwards. Unfortunately, the shot missed his head, so the doctor walked over to him, firing three more times. This time, he didn't miss the head. He crouched down to him, grabbing his phone from his pocket and putting it in his coat.

Perfectly on time, the sound of an approaching car filled the air. Schroeder already knew it was the BMW X5 belonging to the security team responsible for the protection of the man he just killed. He crouched slightly and took cover behind his car, ensuring they couldn't shoot him from within the vehicle. After a few seconds, there was a loud bang, and the car stopped accelerating. Schroeder watched it pass him, slowly veering off the road, before bumping into the Audi at a low speed. Schroeder cautiously moved up, trying not to get shot, and opened the front passenger door, aiming the gun in. His makeshift shrapnel bomb had worked, and the occupants of the car were peppered with sharp metal fragments. The driver, making a quiet gurgling noise, reached for something, and Schroeder shot him once more, silencing him. The doctor didn't enjoy killing, but he reminded himself that if he was going to pull this off, he couldn't afford to leave any loose ends. Seeing an MP7 sub-machine gun in the lap of the passengers, he grabbed it, figuring that some extra firepower couldn't hurt.

He returned to the BMW, turning the engine on and briskly accelerating away from the two cars. As he sped along the dirt trail, the Bluetooth system in the car indicated that someone was calling him. He glanced at the caller ID, listed as 'Private Number'. He pressed a button on the steering wheel to answer the call.

"How did it go?" A familiar voice asked.

"Well," Schroeder answered. "I got the phone. Tied up all the loose ends, too. Once we get the phone back to your guy, we'll have it."

"Have what again?" They questioned. "Remind me."

"We'll have a location on one of the Grey Men."

* * *

**There's the plot twist, if you can consider it that. This was a really long chapter, which is either a good or bad thing depending on who you are. Sorry if the last part seems a bit tacked on, it didn't feel long enough to warrant its own chapter and I didn't want a new story arc starting halfway into the fic. Hope you're enjoying it so far.**


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